Valve



Aug. 11, 1942. L. w. BENOIT 2,292,780

VALVE Filed Fe'b. 14, 1940 BY m `ATTORN EY Patented Aug. 11, 1942 l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VALVE Lester W. Benoit, Shillington, Pa.,` assignor to American Chain & Cable Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 14, 1940, Serial No. 318,799

4 Claims. (Cl. 251-59) 'I'his invention relates to high pressure gate .by means of which the valve seat ring after it valves. has been placed on the shoulder I6, may be With the introduction of high temperature secured and sealed in the valve body. The inner high pressure steam working conditions in cenor seating surface of the valve seat ring may be tral power stations, considerable trouble has been machined and finished before the valve seat ring experienced with bolted connections. This is inserted and welded in place. trouble has been overcome in the pipe lines them- Cooperating with the valve seat rings I5 whose selves and their connection with the bolted hubs valve seating surfaces are inclined relatively to of the valve body by welding the various joints each other as disclosed, .is a wedge gate valve so that the whole pipe system becomes one unit 10 which is moved from open to closed position by throughout its entire length.' No special diflimeans of a stem 2| projecting upwardly through culty has been experienced in welding the valve a stuiiing box in the bonnet 22 to the exterior runs or hubs of the valve body into pipe lines of the bonnet and any suitable means may be because the length of the welding period and the provided for raising and lowering the valve stem amount of heat developed may be proportionate l5 and valve and for preventing rotation of the to the wall thickness of the pipe and also because valve. The usual bolted connections between the length of the hubs is such that the welding the flanged bonnet and valve body have been a temperatures do not run far back enough to source of trouble and in accordance with my indamage the valve seating surfaces. vention I have eliminated the flanges and the It has also been proposed to weld the bonnet' 20 necessity for using packings by providing the opto the valve body but this cannot be accomplished posedr faces of the ends of the bonnet 22 and as readily as welding the valve body into the pipe upstanding member 23 with complementary line for the reason that the valve bonnet and grooves 25 and 26 for the reception of welding valve body are of heavy cross sections and the material as indicated at 21 by means 0f Which time of welding and the length of time for stress 25 the bonnet may be secured to the upstanding relieving causes the heat to run down into the member 23 of the valve body and also be eiecvalve body and possibly cause damage to the tively sealed on the valve body. For the purpose valve seats. It is therefore an object of this in-` of convenience and strength the lower end of the Vention to provide a valve construction in which bonnet may be provided with a depending flange the valve seat rings may be welded in position 3o 28 fitting into the interior of the upstanding on the valve body and the valve seated on the member 23 as indicated. rings and then the bonnet welded to the valve The lower end of the valve 20 may be provided body after which the entire valve construction with a beveled valve stem seat and its upper may be relieved without injury to any of the end may be provided with a beveled valve stem parts of the valve and valve stem connection seat 3|. The Valve stem 2| is provided with a which will permit of assembling a permanent lower reduced threaded end 32 upon which is valve stem with the valve after the stress reliev-v threaded a nut 33 provided with a beveled valve ing has been elected. seat 34 for cooperation with the valve stem seat Other objects of the invention will appear from 30. The valve 20 is provided with a through hole the following description taken in connection 35 through WhCh the 10We1 Section 36 of the with the single figure in the drawing which is a valve stem passes, the diameter of the valve vertical and longitudinal section of the valve stem at this point being smaller than that of the assemmy, diameter of the hole in the valve.

In the single iigure of the drawing the body The upper section 31 of the valveI stem is of of the valve is indicated generally at`5 and in-.45 increased diameter and a beveled shoulder or cludes the usual hubs 6 and 1, the ends of which valve seat 38 between the sections 36 and 31 is may be tapered as indicated at 8 and 9 and proadapted to engage the beveled valve stem seat vided with complementary welding grooves I0 3| of the valve. The distance between the seats and for connecting the valve body into `the 34 and 38 is slightly greater than the distance pipe line by welding as is understood. The inner between the seats 30 and 3| so that the valve ends of the bores or through-ports are identical may swivel on the valve stem for purposes well each being provided with a shoulder |2 having understood.

I its inner side |3 flared or beveled to form in The upper end of the valve 20 is provided with connection with a bevel I4 on a valve seat ring a back seating under pressure rib or lsurface 4U l5 a welding groove to receive welding material 55 which may be machined to seaty tightly against.

a gland 4| in the lower end of the valve stem hole in the bonnet, so that when the valve is lifted into its uppermost position a tight seal will be made between the back seating surface 40 and the gland 4| and between the beveled seat 34 on the lower end of the valve stem and the beveled valve stem seat 30 on the valve, thus permitting the stuing box to be repacked While there is a flow of high pressure fluid through the valve. The nut 33 may be seal-welded on the valve stem 2l to prevent leakage of fluid past the threads as indicated at 42. Access may be had to remove grit from the Valve body and for the purpose of welding the nut 33 to the valve stern, through a threaded port 45 in the lower end of the valve body which may be closed by a threaded plug 46 which may be seal-welded in position as indicated at 41.

It is obvious from the disclosure that the valve stem may be assembled in position after the bonnet has been welded on to the valve body. This construction is provided so that a temporary valve stem `may be -used if desired to hold the valve on its seat during the `bonnet welding and stress relieving operation in `order that the permanent valve stem which is usually made -of 12 to 14% chromium steel may be assembled later, as the heat treatment of the permanent valve stem is such that if it were put under stress relieving temperatures the desired -physical properties of the valve stem would be destroyed.

The valve assembly disclosed has a special type of wedge valve and valve stem connection. The valve body and bonnet castings of the usual construction are two separate castings, each having a large flange by means of which the castings are bolted together. In 'accordance with my invention the castings may be provided with a welding groove by a simple machine operation. The valve body may be machined in the usual manner, that is, by completely 4machining both shoulders on which the valve seat rings rest and inserting and seal welding the valve seat rings. The bonnet will also be machined by the yusual methods Iexcept for the weld-ing groove machined in the bottom of the bonnet.

The wedge valve is machined with a hole through the vcenter and chamfered or `beveled seats at both the upper and lower ends of the hole. The yupper edge of the wedge valve is also machined with a back seating -under pressure seating surface. The valve stem is machined with 'three steps in its diameter. The first step is at the lower end of the valve stem and is threaded. A nut with a chamfered collar or with a chamfered end or beveled valve seat is screwed on to this thread and the thread seal- Welded to prevent leakageof pressure along the thread of the connection. The portion of the valve stem within the wedge valve -proper is of slightly larger diameter while the upper end -of the valve stem is Vof still larger diameter, `the two different diameters being connected by -a chamfered or beveled valve seat.

When the seat Irings Ahave been `secured in Ithe valve body, the Wedge valve vmay be Aput inplace on the seat rings. The vbonnet will .then be lput in position ready for Welding. The vwelding .will be made in the conventional welding :method .but will not be stress relieved at this operation. Instead of inserting the permanent valve Vstern which will be furnished with the valve, .a temporary valve stem ofsome other material will .be inserted in .the wedge valve .and against the valve stem seat 38 on the vvalve to force the valve down on to its seat rings. The whole valve assembly can then be put in a furnace which has its atmosphere controlled and the temperature of the .furnace raised to a point to stress relieve the Weld, By this method not only the bonnet joint Weld will be stress relieved but the seal weld at the seat ring joints will also be stress relieved and further any machining strains which may have been put into the castings due to other machining operations will also be stress relieved at this time by heat treatment.

After the valve assembly has been suitably stress relieved, it will be removed from the furnace and the temporary stem which was used to hold the valve on its seat during the stress relieving operation will be removed and used in the construction of other valves. The permanent valve stem will then be inserted and the nut at the lower end of the stem will be put in place and seal-welded in position. After this the plug in the bottom of the valve body will be put in position but not seal-welded at this time because small particles or objects get into the pipe line `during the course of construction which usually nd their way to the lower side of the valve. After a short period -of operation the plug can be removed and an inspection made and if the construction is found to be in satisfactory condition lthe plug will be screwed back into place and seal-welded so that the Valve is entirely sealed for operation permanently.

While I have described with particularity a valve construction embodying my invention, it is .to be understood that I reserve the right to all such changes as fall within the principles of my invention and .the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A valve construction comprising a valve body provided with a through port and downwardly converging valve seats, `a valve bonnet, a wedge-shaped valve provided with a hole extending lengthwise through said valve, a conical valve stem seat at .each .end of said hole, a valve stem extending through said hole and of smaller diameter than the diameter of said hole, conical seats .carried by said valve .stein for cooperation with the valve stem .seats .on Vsaid valve, said seats .on .said valve .stem lbeing spaced -a greater distance apart .than the .valve stem seats on said valve, a ,back seating surface on ,the .upper end of the valve, and a cooperating seat in said bonnet.

A2. A valve ,construction comprising a :valve body provided .with a through ,port -and valve seats, a valve bonnet, a valve provided with a hole extending lengthwise through said valve, a valve stem seat at each end of said hole, a valve stem extending through said hole and of smaller diameter than the diameter .of said hole, seats carried .by said valve stem for cooperation with the valve stem seats on said valve, said .seatslon said valve stem being spaced a greater .distance apart than the valvestem seats :on said valve, a :backseating y surface on the vupper vend of the valve, and 1a cooperatingseat in said bonnet.

3. A valve construction comprising a valve body provided with a horizontal `through port and valve -seats and 4with an .integrally Aconnected .upstanding bonnet provided with a hole slidably receiving a valve stem, a vvalve seated on said valve seats and provided with a hole `extending :from top :to bottom, a valve stem extending through .the hole 4in said bonnet .and the hole in said valve, a shoulder .on said valve stern ooperating with the upper end of said valve to seat said valve and of less diameter than that of the hole in the bonnet and a shoulder on said valve stem cooperating with the lower end of said valve to unseat said valve, said last mentioned shoulder being removable from the valve stem, and the bottom wall of said valve body beirigprovided with a hole for access to and ie- I moval of said removable shoulder from said Valve.

4. A valve construction comprising a main body provided with a through port and valve seats, a valve bonnet, a valve provided with a hole extending lengthwise therethrough, a valve stem seat at each end of said hole, a valve stem extending through said hole and of smaller diameter than the diameter of said hole, means on said valve stemcooperating with the seat at the upper end of said valve for forcing said valve against the valve seats in the valve body, and means carried by the lower end of said valve stem for cooperation with the seat at the lower end of said valve for effecting a fluid tight connection between said valve stem and said valve as said valve stem is raised and the valve drawn into engagement with said valve bonnet.

LESTER W. BENOIT. 

